This blog is intended to keep family and friends updated on our current adventures

Monday, October 01, 2007

GARAGE SALE, MT WASHINGTON AND IDIOTS

COVERED BRIDGE

MT WASHINGTON VIEW

BEST OF THE COLOR

One day we drove to Warrensburg, New York, about 80 miles from Burlington to what was advertised as the “world’s largest garage sale”. Each year the town turns its main street into a swap meet. The street is about 2 miles long with people selling everything from new clothing, to antiques, to just plain junk. We parked at one end of town and followed the hordes for the next 4 hours, walking up one side of the street and back the other. In addition, all the fair food was there, with funnel cakes, corn on the cob, and Barbeque. We passed on the street food and managed to get a seat in a small café for lunch. We got away pretty cheap, just buying some yard art and lunch.

Still in Vermont as I write this, but we have moved eastward to St Johnsbury. We are in a nice RV park on the Moose River, just outside of town. The park is full as fall is one of the busiest seasons with folks coming from far and wide to see the fall colors. According to the foliage report, we should be experiencing peak color in this region. I really hope they are mistaken because I’m not impressed with the colors we’re seeing. I’ve seen better color in the Eastern Sierras. We keep hoping it will get better, but so far we’ve been disappointed.

Today we drove into New Hampshire and took the toll road to the top of Mt Washington. It seems that in this part of the county, if there is a mountain, some private company will build a road up it and start charging for the privilege of driving up it. The road to up Mt Washington was built in the 1850’s and had been in private hands since. The road is about 8 miles, paved most of the way, and has an average grade of 12%. Once at the top, the view extends into Canada to the north, Maine to the East and New York to the West. This is if it isn’t cloudy. We were lucky in that the mountain itself was clear, but in three directions we looked down on the clouds.

I haven’t complained very much about things in this blog, but I just can’t help myself any longer. The drivers in New England are IDIOTS! They drive their Volvos and Subarus as though any curve taken at more than 10 MPH will cause a roll over. And Vermont is the Green Mountain State. These people drive as though they have never seen a mountain. I thought that perhaps I was being a little harsh, but then I got my driving instructions for driving up and down Mt Washington.

Official Mt Washington Auto Road Driving Instructions:

DRIVING UP: “Lowest gear with an automatic transmission is usually shown by symbol “1”, “L1”, or “L” on your shifting lever indicator.”

DRIVING DOWN: “Driving down in lowest gear will cause the engine to act as a brake andhelp to slow you car's decent. You may notice that the engine sounds loud, or is running very fast – this is normal and is not cause for alarm."